Fading in a Foreign Place
by Someone's Charm
Summary: Zexion does escape from Replica Riku and enters Twilight Town, where he and Demyx decide to take time off for traveling. Olette, who missed her trolley home, is unwillingly dragged along on their multi-world journey. Eventually Zexette
1. Underground Concourse

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts had never been mine and never will be. Must I be reminded?

Hey, everyone! The summary didn't lie. This is a Zexion/Olette (Olexion). I'm big on rareships, and this one just caught me. There are only three non-Disney girls in KH2 (Namine, Kairi, Olette) and I really don't care for the other two. And then there was Zexion, who was constantly paired with other Organization guys (coughDemyxcough) or Riku. I'm guilty of being part of the duo who posted the Sephiroth/Zexy fic, though. I've seen a Zexion/Kairi, which I thought ended more on a Sora/Kairi note.

Point being is that . . . there is none. I've worked on this on and off throughout summer and finished writing it in August. Then there came rewriting, and newspaper took up my time immensely. Losing the disk this story was one didn't help either. Then my friend Infinitis (penname) was told about my story and she became "Oh, finish it! It sounds so cute!" Heck, she's even given me some great ideas. The rising manga star is such inspiration! So the only reason I'm rewriting this right now instead of trying to beat FFX is due to her.

This is a Christmas gift to Infinitis. Seasons greetings, everyone!

* * *

"Each journey gives rise to chance encounters, and each encounter brings forth a farewell. When a farewell leads to a journey, the worlds open their hearts." -Yen Sid's Book, _The Beginning_.

* * *

Chapter 1: Underground Concourse

Flushed from the adrenaline rush, Zexion leaned his weight against the brick wall of a clock tower and tried blinking away the burning sensation in his eyes. His lungs left him breathless due to his hasty escape from Castle Oblivion where Axel had approached him with only a devious intention in mind. Barely ten minutes since Replica Riku had attacked him, Zexion held some satisfaction in his escape through a Corridor of Darkness to the nearest world at the time. The castle never did stay in one place too long; their location was shifted hourly.

The area seemed neither hostile nor uninhabited. Well, of course it wasn't uninhabited. He stood in a thriving little city, after all. Quiet, though. If his instincts proved correct, the town bathed in too much peace and cheer to be troubled by the Heartless. If Organization XIII ever came there before his own arrival signs of it eluded him as well.

Such a world could have been described as pure, a virgin to darkness. Zexion smirked, knowing that his own luck overcame the great probability of ending up in a world wasting away in Heartless and Nobodies. No one would threaten him here, making it the perfect little haven. Xemnas' fury would flare once he discovered Zexion had abandoned the castle basements for an unscheduled sabbatical. To the youngest of the original Nobodies, his own actions were rightly justified; everyone automatically owned the right to flee when Axel caught them weak. The Flurry of Dancing Flames almost outdid the Cloaked Schemer. Almost.

Zexion felt ready to wander about the town and plan his future actions from there when a distortion of good and bad luck occurred.

The girl appearing from around the clock tower's side was a brunette with locks twisted into curls. Upon seeing him, she jumped in a pleasantly surprised fashion.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was here."

'_But I should have known that you were'_, Zexion briefly chastised himself for letting down his guard by not paying attention to the scents.

His roughed-up appearance made the exhaustion coursing through muscles obvious, prompting her to ask, "Are you okay?" She took a step toward him with a concerned expression. "Oh, by the way, I'm Olette."

He put more of his weight against the wall, watching her wearily. Olette seemed harmless enough, but Zexion had long dubbed human interaction a detestable waste of time. They either chose to be ignorant of what they could not see or were too innocent to even notice. Their existences were short, sad wastes that were easily forgotten with a small dose of years.

Olette paused barely two feet away, gazing up with green eyes full of curiosity. "You must be new here. You certainly don't look like anyone you would see in Twilight Town. Where are you from?"

"The south", he automatically answered, not really caring what was actually in the southern vicinity of the city. Whether it checked out with her or not mattered not an ion to him.

"The south?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know there was a city south of here . . ." From her expression, Zexion supposed that he could not astonish her more if he said the truth.

"It was a cozy town", he replied, making a mental memo to never use the word _cozy _unless necessary.

Olette nodded, feeling herself settle into this odd sort of conversation. "Well, hey, what's your name-?"

"OLETTE!" a boy with camouflage pants and a grey vest yelled, wandering around the corner, "Olette, you missed your trolley!"

His yelling made said girl jump once again in surprise and look over her shoulder. She then turned back to the stranger and saw him already walking away towards the Tram Street Commons. His dark aura stood out within the cheery air surrounding them.

"Who was that guy?" Hayner asked, now standing next to her and watching the black-coated figure saunter away.

Olette shook her head, disappointed. "I don't know. He said he's from the south." She unexpectedly jolted upright, off of the tower. "Hayner, did you say my trolley is _gone_?"

"More like long gone by now", he told her with a careless shrug. The teen put his arms behind his head and leaned against the clock tower's wall. "What's the big deal? You can hop on the next one in five minutes."

She shook her head, brown curls swaying. "No, it won't be back for fifteen minutes, and then it will take fifteen more minutes to get there. I'm going to be a half hour late getting home!"

"But you've always been on time", he pointed out, "so your mom can't get mad at you for just one screw up." Hayner gave her a look. "Besides, you're the only person I know who bothers to be _early _getting home."

His expression was ignored as she took off at a quick jog up the sloping streets to the train station. Whether the trolley going to Twilight Town's outer neighborhood hadn't departed or not, Olette needed to move even if it was only to make herself feel like she was getting anywhere. The only problem was that no matter how fast she arrived there, it would not make a difference with the trolley already departed.

Her mother would have such a fit. The lecture following her arrival home on the dangers of being out at night would state every likely and unlikely situation that could happen upon Olette; she could be kidnapped. She could be mugged. She could be raped. She could be killed. She could be shanghaied in the tunnels beneath the city and sent to do hard labor.

Careening to a halt in front of hone of the opening s to the underground tunnels, Olette hesitated at the prospect of passing through the shadowed depths. It would work as a shortcut to the train station, assuming she didn't lose her way. The Underground Concourse would be much less of an uphill challenge. Besides, nothing scary actually lurked in the dark. It was just a child's fear. Still, that short contemplation left her huffing and puffing her way through the streets.

* * *

Passing various obnoxious posers bearing the word STRUGGLE, Zexion casually strolled the streets with an attentive eye. The constant nagging of paranoia had begun to fade from his mind, but not enough to leave the Nobody off-guard. His most crucial task for the time being revolved around staying aware of scents, because those were his warnings of someone's approach.

Zexion stopped and turned around, taking a good look at the view, before he turned a corner. Again, he checked for anything that might be suspicious. The most skeptical piece of the entire scene was its own harmony. The sky appeared made of dry pastels, the soft colors matching the slow life below it. Shopkeepers had no trouble taking care of last minute customers before storing away their wares. During the daytime, the circle could very easily be envisioned as a perfect little marketplace for the masses.

He continued along the cobblestone road and relaxed once the ground became level again after five minutes of an uphill trek. No buildings other than a train station looked over the desolate area spread out in front of him. To be frank, the scene held the typical pleasant quality of the town. To be even more frank, the pleasant quality grated his last nerves.

Strolling over to the short walls lining the edge, Zexion stood with his left side facing the west's setting sun. He remained out of the sun's phenomenal reach and greatly preferred it that way. As a denizen of darkness, such characteristics of his personality were expected.

Footsteps resounded nearby, alerting him to the owner's scent; the brunette stumbled onto his location again, though he doubted her arrival at his own destination intentional. Their rendezvous would likely give him the same amount of pleasure as the last: none.

"Excuse me", a polite, if not hesitant, female voice asked. "I guess you probably heard my name back there, but I never caught yours. May I ask what it is?"

The renowned conspirator of the Organization turned to face Olette, looking down at her dispassionately. He didn't dislike her, no, but her inquiries irked him slightly, because he simply deplored answering them. Though, she did have reason to be polite. Even Zexion acknowledged that he might look a tad different from the everyday populace with his black coat and intricate hairstyle.

To match her show of politeness, Zexion knew he should grant her a reply. He opted to answer her question if not give a shake of the head. He then decided whether or not to either answer her truthfully or falsely. The idea of telling a fabricated name was unappealing due to there being absolutely no names he liked or found suiting. The Cloaked Schemer was Zexion, this the entire Organization knew. He couldn't take the risk and wasn't in the mood to fabricate a name.

Olette shifted, discomforted by his silence and having shown no gesture that he acknowledged her. A simple show of impoliteness he certainly would not have.

"I don't feel like sharing my name."

She gave him a kind smile, just as she was taught to do. "It's a pleasure to meet you anyway." Hayner pointed out every so often how she'd be excessively polite, believing manners to be her Overdrive. Her mother stressed for her to always treat people respectfully especially in the presence of strangers and acquaintances.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed with Olette trying to think of what to say next and Zexion wishing she'd leave him alone. There was only so much of someone he could stand per day.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?"

The reminder of her curfew hit her. "Thank you for reminding me! Maybe we'll see each other later!" she yelled back at him as she sprinted up the short flight of steps to the train station.

She left so quickly from his side, Zexion couldn't help but to ponder over how little Olette could pull a disappearing act as well as Axel. Then again, he guessed her to be a busybody of sorts.

He was just on the verge of leaving the way he came, one foot already in front of the other, when three new scents came to him. The Nobody turned towards the opposite direction and also made a hasty exit to elsewhere.

* * *

"Missed it by ten minutes", the man in the ticket booth told her, shaking his head in pitty.

"Could I . . .? Oh, never mind." Brainstorming grew her no good ideas.

Olette meandered to a nearby bench near the trolley cares and fell back onto it, deeply depressed over her predicament and completely at a loss for plans. She slouched forward with her elbows propped on her knees while trying to sort out the thoughts in her head. Thinking logically mad looking at the details easier; Hayner and Pence were likely in their respected homes, she didn't want to deal with Seifer's gang, and she should try to find a payphone to call home. Then the brunette would tell her parents the situation and how she'd be staying at a friend's house, a lie. Her parents would worry over nothing when she could handle this herself. She could manage the dark on her own.

With a boost in confidence, Olette stood up with every intention of getting through the night A-OK when a group of voices made her jump in surprise. Woops. There goes confidence.

"I've been drafted to baby-sit those brats tonight."

"That's gonna be a pain lookin' after cousins, y'know?"

"Trouble."

"Only if they find the freakin' Sea Salt ice cream like last time."

"It's weird how everyone likes that junk so much, y'know?"

As the Disciplinary Committee walked farther into the station, she realized more and more how she didn't not want to deal with them. There would be too much teasing at her carelessness. She knew pride, despite some people thinking it foreign even to her, and preferred to keep it intact. Not to mention that Seifer's solution would probably be her staying over at Fuu's house that night. Nothing against Fuu, but the notion of spending a sleepover with a girl who owned a fairly odd personality left her sour.

"Pence looks like he's had one too many, y'know?"

"Damaging."

Olette dashed as fast as her feet would allow her in summer sandals. There was a stitch in her foot by the time she jumped off the platform by a trolley and onto the track. Hiding behind the one she assumed that they'd take, Olette stayed just out of sight. They would get in the trolley, leave for their homes, and never notice her.

"Who cares? Let's just get home 'cause I've got a long night."

"Insomnia?"

She held her breath while trio approached, feeling that the time was appropriate.

"Just an all-nighter."

"Stayin' up late just cause it's still summer sounds good, y'know?"

"Incentive?"

"I don't need a reason."

Their conversation was muffled during the few seconds they took to board the trolley. AS if the conductor had solely been waiting for them, the nifty public transit system moved forward on the track s until she no longer hid behind it. The amount of problems that evening left her dearly wishing to collapse into a bed. Her own, preferably. Since her wish wasn't going to be happening right then, Olette gladly settled for the couch at the Usual Spot.

She started across the tracks for the waiting platform and stumbled over the track's rail. "Oh . . ."

Seifer, standing ever so confidently on the raised platform in front of her, smirked victoriously. "So the Straight-A decided to have a kick by staying past curfew."

"So are you!" she snapped back. Her tone sounded like she didn't believe herself, which she didn't. He'd reply with something difficult to retaliate against.

"Don't' you get that I have more lead-way than you, as Disciplinary Committee Head?" he asked rhetorically, arms crossed.

Wondering how Seifer always seemed to find the nerve, she hoisted herself back on to the platform and walked right past him. "I'll be inside anyway be the time the police start the night patrols."

He turned and walked with her toward the Central Station exit. "So you'll sneak around while they're switching shifts?"

"I'm not going to sneak anywhere", she insisted, a bit insulted. "I'm going to the Usual Spot."

"Smart move, Olette", Seifer said sarcastically.

"What's so bad about it?"

"I think it's a good idea."

"Seriously, Seifer."

"Once curfew starts, you're not my problem. None of you lamers are. The police can set you up in juvey for all I care. If anything happens, it doesn't bother me."

Raped. Kidnapped. Killed. Shanghaied.

"You can't really mean what you just said!"

"Wanna bet something on it?"

Olette ran ahead to avoid him and paused at the door, turning around. "So if a girl was in trouble and you aren't on duty, then you'd completely disregard her? Or am I just special?"

"Take a guess", he answered with a nonchalant wave of the hand.

Angrily clenching and unclenching her fists, she swung open the door leading outside in order to leave. Seifer frustrated her too much, even when fully awake and aided by friends to ward him off. Her frustration kept the fear of the newly dawned night at bay. Crossing her arms, Olette rethought her resolution to not ask Seifer for help upon sudden lying seeing the dark passageway under the glowing neon 5, entrance to the Underground Concourse. The foreboding scene swept away the knowledge of electric lanterns lighting the entire set of tunnels. It was safe.

* * *

Abnormally shaped heads sat on white and pink colored bodies with no hands, yet these creatures performed card tricks with amazing expertise and not an iota of effort. Backing up against the lit-up sign telling which way Exit 3 and Exit 2 were, the fifteen-year-old brunette stared at the oddities. She didn't fully take in the trio's appearance. Doing so would require brain activity; therefore, her mind giving a complete blank was dreadfully ill timed.

Her feet, however, did not fail despite a semi-strong protest from her knees. She ran for the small set of stairs in front of her, nearly tripping in her utter haste to escape. Turning left, her eyes closed from the sudden gust of wind that hit her face as she sprinted. When the thick column to her left grazed her shoulder, Olette put a hand against it to push herself forward. A sharp swipe from one of the creatures that caught up to her startled the girl, sending her tripping over a nearby ledge overlooking an occupied corridor.

* * *

"Everyone slips up every once in a while. So, cut him some slack?"

"Axel made his intentions very clear."

"I bet if we go back to Castle Oblivion right now, this entire thing can just be smoothed over with everyone else. What do ya' say?"

"There is no one else. Our mission was a failure while we also suffered four casualties."

"Ever wonder why another word for dead is casualties? There's nothing casual about it."

"All of Organization XIII is a contradictory to that, Demyx, and do not stray from the subject at hand."

Demyx sighed, stretching a few muscles by extending his hands far above his head. His conversation skills easily passed as above decent, because the musician loved to talk. Banter helped him procrastinate inevitable things, holding said things off until the time came to do or die. And if he wasn't talking himself out of a situation, it was simply communicating with another person. Heck, Demyx even enjoyed talking to himself, really. The problem at the moment was his lack of persuasive skills. He disliked doing things other people "persuaded" (more commonly known as threatened) him to do and knew better than to be a hypocrite by doing the same thing to others. And then Axel told Xaldin who had to tell Xigbar who was ecstatic to tell the Superior that Zexion fled the coop.

"But what are ya' gonna do? Treason is the worse, especially to you founders. Don't you think they might kill you?" Demyx asked, not exactly wanting to see another Nobody fade away.

Zexion nodded. "I understand that to its greatest extent and have no desire to follow suit of Vexen. Seeing that the only half-decent decision is going to King Mickey to receive forgiveness, I had better start considering a way to show my regret to the Superior."

"So you are coming back, Zexy!" Demyx's job suddenly lost most complications.

Uncertainty flashed in Zexion's eyes. He wanted to stay far away from the Organization. Loyalty died within their ranks the day Marluxia joined and began planning a coup d'état.

"I-"

"WOAH!"

"Wha?!"

The elder Nobody took that as an opportune moment to disappear around the corner, requiring more time to think things over.

Because Demyx stood parallel to the ledge, Olette collided with the emerald-eyed figure before hitting the ground. She rolled away from him and clutched where her ribs came in contact with his fairly bony shoulder. Nothing felt broken or fractured, though she guessed there would be a bruise forming.

Demyx, much more accustomed to surprises and pain, sat up, crossed his legs, and hoped to get a better understanding of what happened. "Hey, what was that for?"

"Um . . ." she wearily stood up. "I thought something was chasing-"

His attention died the moment he realized Zexion's departure. "Zexion, wait! Xemnas wanted us to come back soon!" The cloaked being jumped to his feet and dashed around the corner, past Exit 4.

Wondering why the tourist population was suddenly bursting (_'Tourists? I'm not even convincing myself.'_), Olette started forward when two more Gambler materialized at feeling a human presence.

A startled yipe shot from her voice box and up her throat as she began running again, vanishing behind a corner towards Exit 2.

Demyx rounded back around the corner to area he last left her. "Hey, wait! You probably shouldn't be wandering around!" _'I guess she's leaving?' _"There are a lot of Nobodies hanging out", he finished anyway.

* * *

Zexion took a left in the path, deciding not to take Exit 5 to his right, and entered the same room Olette had fled to prior to their third meeting. Noting the two balcony ledges and particularly thick column, he judged the room efficient in his escape from Demyx's inquiries as to his future plans. _Would he return to the Organization?_ The question deserved attention. His colleague might be told the final decision, because the fool really did care.

Hearing fast-falling footsteps coming from the way he had recently came, the illusionist made haste to hide behind the column. He detected three scents total in the underground: Demyx, Olette, and servant Nobodies. Demyx was close as the lesser Nobodies were spread out and searching for the girl. Olette approached from a different direction than Demyx, though her progress slowed drastically at a certain point. Being a human, she wouldn't have the same endurance as a Nobody.

His ally entered seconds after these thoughts, taking the good idea to check and see if Zexion left through the nearby Exit 5. Said Nobody kept close attention to Demyx's scent in order to know just when to inaudibly edge around the column, staying out of sight. He clenched his jaw tightly as the child's game of hide-n-seek began.

Demyx looked around a bit more in that room, hoping his friend wasn't too far off. He circled around the thick center column to see the entire room. Of course, inadequate Number IX was unaware to the person scooting around the column whenever he took a few steps in one direction.

He walked over to the first opening (scoot) and looked out into the other room. Nothing to see there.

The Nobody started toward the small set of steps leading out (scoot scoot) but stopped and started walking to the other ledge-like opening that peered into the same area he met that one brunette (scoot).

Guessing Zexion wasn't in that room, he walked up the small set of stairs and towards the brightly lit-up sign (scoot scoot) reading _2: Tunnelway 3: Back Alley_. The two possibilities weighed in his mind. There was also the chance of him having exited through a Corridor of Darkness. Today really wasn't a good day for a mission.

"Tunnelway . . .or Back Alley? Tunnelway . . . Or Back Alley? Zexy, what would you do-oh, right. I should be asking that anyway." Demyx held up his hand to his face, setting his chin in the curve between index finger and thumb in a thoughtful manner.

It really was kind of impossible to tell. Zexion was one smart cookie and wouldn't sweat in trying to fool kind, simple Demyx.

"Vexen should have done- oh, he's gone. Marluxia could have . . .no . . .And Larxene . . .gosh, she's not around anymore either. I wonder why everyone is just dyin' off like this. Maybe I shouldn't be trying to get Zexion to come back if everyone in Castle Oblivion is being knocked off. Maybe?" he pondered aloud to himself.

Feet scuffing the ground and course gasping to his left alerted Demyx to someone new. He immediately turned and jumped in surprise upon seeing the girl who fell on him earlier. She certainly did look worse for wear; her skin was red and warm from adrenaline while her hair was a mess from running.

The brunette collapsed at the base of the second set of stairs leading up to where he stood, feet throbbing from the effort to ascend the first set. Her curled locks fell over her shoulders and face.

"Hello?"

Olette automatically looked up in the direction the little greeting came from. It was so odd to hear it now, right after she had been chased out of the tunnel leading to Sunset Terrace by silver and pink things. And now, that guy with the stylish mullet was back and looking at her with great curiosity. Apparently not enough curiosity to see if she was all right.

She heard her heartbeat pounding in her ears. By inhaling the concourse's frigid air, her mouth went dry, and she couldn't form saliva despite continuously swallowing. Even her eyes became hazy from the flood of trepidation. Olette was completely stricken with surprise upon first noticing the appearance of someone in a sleeveless white trench coat beside her.

A firm hand grabbed her upper arm and roughly pulled Olette to her feet. She was barely up, before he led her into the room to their right and forced her to jump with him off the raised platform. The contact with her feet and the concrete drove her to her knees, dragging Seifer down with her.

"Get up, Olette! I'm not going to freakin' carry you, got that?" his sharp voice easily cut through the ringing in her ears. He took a hold of her arm up near her shoulder and pulled her up, accidentally causing her to stumble into his shoulder.

"Ouch!" She stumbled away and raised her head, noticing a black blur looking down at them from a balcony off the main room with the column.

"Just move", he ordered, moving into a sudden sprint.

Olette held onto the hand that held her own arm when she felt herself dragged behind. She focused on moving her feet fast enough to stay near Seifer's pace, not even noticing the direction they were going in. If she had been paying any attention, then she would have seen Seifer checking to see if the odd creatures following them were going up the stairs they had left a minute ago. The two teenagers took a right and ran down a corridor until stopping at the corner where Zexion and Demyx conversed earlier.

Whilst catching her breath, Olette gazed up at Seifer. Honestly, she didn't have a clue what she should say. 'Thank you for coming' didn't seem to cut it and 'why are you here' was a tad ungrateful.

"Seifer . . ." She trailed off, words failing.

Everything happened at a ridiculous speed, and now even he fell into the mix. Sure, there weren't exactly too many people in this entire mess, those two strangers and themselves, but it truly did feel like more. Likely, those pinkish creatures were making the concourse feel especially crowded that evening.

"Just because I'm here doesn't mean anything, so don't start on those damn romantic ideas. Life's not a freakin' fairytale."

In a spiral of silver, four new beasts appeared in a semicircle trapping the couple. Zippers closing their mouths like muzzles opened to reveal enlarged razor teeth bared threateningly. Their silver bodies sway to and fro with astonishing dexterity.

Seifer jumped forward and aimed a strong punch at the nearest one's middle. His attack reached air as the target swirled in great loops around the outstretched arm before digging its claws into his skin. Pained, he brought back his arm defensively and moved to strike the one that approached his left side only to have the same results. In these few seconds, three fourths of the group danced around Seifer, assaulting in something akin to a bulling.

Her hands grabbed a hold of Seifer's arms when he stumbled back into her, feeling deep scratches marring his skin. He, meanwhile, observed the little sadists observing him biding his time. He looked up at the wall to his right, and he grinned. He'd show these punks not to mess with Seifer Almasy once Olette was safely somewhere else, and he had just the place in mind.

He spun around and crouched to the ground all in one graceful movement, causing his sleeveless trench coat to bellow out. He then continued to put both hands under her foot.

"Jump!" With that, he quickly hauled her up as high as he could toward the balcony opening above. Olette grasped the wooden front and moved so she was flat on her ribcage on top of the thin piece. The position was painful on her chest, quickly persuading her to squirm desperately when finally the wooden board was pressed against her stomach. Seifer grabbed her ankles and roughly swung her legs up so that she may fall all the way over the board acting as a guardrail of sorts.

Olette landed on the floor unevenly; her ribcage hit first while her legs came last, knees banging against each other sorely. She saw two pink juggler-creatures jaunting into the room and moved to stand. Her body didn't cooperate and she, instead, ended up flopping like a fish. The need to move and run became even more evident when she realized the same person she met twice that day watching from the column.

Someone kindly pulled her to her feet and easily supported her. She didn't need to look up before hearing his name.

"Demyx!"

"Zexion?" a more human, less severe, voice responded in a confused tone. Demyx loosened his grip on the girl and barely caught Olette before she swayed toward the ground.

Zexion approached the two, blocking her view of the pink creatures that stood warily away from them. He took in the minor situation at hand and shrugged. "Dump her."

"Just like that? But won't they-" he nodded towards the lesser Nobodies "-try to ake-tay er-hay eart-hay?"

"They'll _what_?" she breathed out, unable to manage more.

"Hey, Zexy, I think she understood me!" Demyx exclaimed in excitement.

He suppressed a headache, replying, "Everyone knows Pig Latin. And as for her heart, it is the Organization's goal to collect hearts."

"Yeah, I know, and does this mean you're coming back?" he asked, hopeful.

His shoulders fell, pondering the question again. Slowly, he turned to enter a Corridor of Darkness.

"Are you coming?"

* * *

I ran through the entire chase scene in the game and it does make sense as long as you know the Underground Concourse's map. Hopefully, you, my dear sweet readers, enjoyed this.

Ciao For Now Everyone!


	2. Hippo Lagoon

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is certainly not mine. If it was, then some of the Nobodies would have a happier ending.

I went through Twilight Town to plan out the first chapter (I even went through the trolley station scene). I wanted to do the same for the world in this chapter. Unfortunately, the game wasn't in my possession at the beginning. This first part is written with total disregard to the map, but the rest, starting with when we reunite with Olette, pays attention to the map. I've really taken what I've learned since the first chapter. Also about this chapter, I think I've changed the title three times.

I can't believe this went over five thousand words:o

* * *

Chapter 2: Hippo Lagoon

Arms spread out in either direction to keep himself balanced; his feet went one in front of the other before taking a shaky leap to lower branch. The branch bent under Demyx's weight, nearly dumping him onto the forest floor down below. He continued to run forward, balancing himself along the way. His hands reached forward to finally grasp the giant trunk of a tree.

Arms encircling what they could of the trunk, he breathed a sigh of relief. Demyx carefully lowered himself onto the thick branch for a few minutes to rest, keeping one hand on the trunk.

"Zexion asks if I'm coming, and I'm like 'hey, yeah. I'm there for you, pal.' Then, he runs away and I'm back at square one!" Demyx loudly complained, earning an odd look from a nearby monkey. Noticing the creature, he turned to speak with it. "I'm a good friend, and good friends always back their friends up, right? But since we're not technically friends, is it okay that I'm trying to get him to go back to the Organization when he feels like they're out to kill him? Well, at least he thinks Axel is. So, think it's still okay?"

The brown-furred beast jumped onto a swinging vine and scurried upward into the highest portion of the canopy. Looking around, he noticed plenty of the same type of vines hanging motionlessly from the tree tops to the far bottom. There had to be a better way down, though. He looked down to estimate how far he sat from the ground.

Wild plants clustered together on the floor, shaking as wild animals silently made their away under their fat leaves. The twittering coming from beneath the foliage couldn't be connected to any animals the Nobody knew. A few colorful birds darted under before flittering upwards, a few getting caught in what appeared to be a bird-eating spider's web located on a lower branch. Higher, thicker branches blocked the sunlight from reaching any farther than where he sat. The various levels of jungle beneath his sitting place turned blacker and blearier before ever reaching the dirt-covered bottom of the Amazon-esque world.

Demyx estimated the ground was quite a ways down.

Understanding what he must do, he removed his gloves, sticking each into its respective pocket. "No problem", he reassured himself. Bare fingers dug into the deep cracks in the bark. A foot cautiously scraped against the wood before finding a secure hold.

"I'm really not sure about this", he told himself. Looking down again, he noticed another branch not too high above him, situated near a long, healthy vine falling to the jungle floor. Digging his toes deeper into the tree with each step, he focused solely on climbing.

The process went one hand, the other hand, one foot, and the other foot. At several points, his body was either uncomfortably stretched or forced to curl up.

Being a Nobody, he experienced no great loss of energy by the time he reached a platform of thick moss and branches. Demyx checked his hands for splinters before deciding whether to put his gloves on or not. Pulling them out of his pockets, he casually glanced at whatever happened to be eyelevel.

"Zexion?" he said, staring long and hard at a dark figure standing on a far-off platform similar to the one under his feet.

The figure quickly turned his head in Demyx's direction and dropped to a hunched stance. He cautiously crawled on feet and hands into better light.

"Oo oo ee ah oo", said this man in a language either made up on the spot or having to do with some species either than human or Nobody.

Demyx scratched his head, thankful he found someone yet disappointed it wasn't someone who spoke English. "Okay, not Zexion." The person he found wore a loincloth, owned an unruly length of long hair, and must have spent his entire life in the sun considering his tan.

Understanding that the black coated fellow spoke a friend's language, Tarzan easily climbed up the vines always hanging from the canopy to the same branch the stranger stood.

Demyx held up his hands as if it would keep him at bay. "Hey, warn me, okay?"

The ape-man stood up and gestured toward himself. "Tarzan." The other man didn't respond. "My name."

Demyx dropped his arms and nodded. "So you're Tarzan?"

Tarzan gave a sharp nod.

"Okay, I'm Demyx."

"De-mix. Dem-ix", he tried out the name.

"That's right." _'What a weird guy.'_ "Have you seen anyone else in a black coat around here?"

Tarzan didn't respond. He remained crouched on the branch, eyebrows together in a focused expression. Sharply exhaling, he wiggled his toes for a better grip on the bark. Still, nothing was said.

"He covers one of his eyes with his hair and is probably in a bad mood", Demyx offered. When he didn't see any reaction, he asked, "Maybe you've seen a short girl with brown hair?"

"Friend? Jane?" Tarzan asked.

His voice was laced with such recognition, Demyx felt hopeful. Then again, he didn't exactly remember that girl's name. Everyone seemed too busy for introductions, but that blonde kid she was with might've said her name. So, there was a _minor _chance her name was Jane.

"Can you help me find her?" he asked. The Nocturne preferred finding his superior but, as the saying goes, one is better than none.

Tarzan replied, "Yes" before hopping back onto the canopy's randomly hanging vines and deftly began climbing down. Demyx carefully edged forwards on the branch.

He called down, "I don't think that way's going to work!"

Misunderstanding the other's problem, Tarzan threw a vine over to him to catch. He continued descending from there.

Demyx grabbed the vine he was given and looked down. "I _really_ don't want to do this. I'm definitely the wrong guy for this one."

* * *

'_Are you coming?'_

'_I'm coming.'_

During every summer since she entered junior high, Olette suffered at least one back to school nightmare. That would be the only nightmare she experienced all year. Last night's, though, she dreamt up two nightmares. In the first, Seifer was fighting these silver things and two men in black coats were kidnapping her. Then in her next dream, she forgot to bring her schedule on the first day and ended up sitting in the back of the cafeteria. Usually her nightmares were lukewarm frightening, and Olette was perfectly okay with that. The first one, though, was too disturbing. It only increased in its fright factor when she opened her eyes and discovered she dreamt up only one nightmare.

She saw dusty light brown rock under her body and realized it formed into what she considered a mini-cliff. Second, she heard water. Raising her head, Olette could see a colossal waterfall rising over a wall of brush topping another cliff walling off the jungle floor. She'd seen photographs of beautiful things like that in her science textbooks, but here it was real.

She deeply inhaled and held her breath. Her wide green eyes looked over everything in her vision. Anything that could move and breathe wasn't found, to her relief. She started breathing again.

Olette sat up and used an arm to support herself. Remembering what her mother taught her to do in scary situations, she kept her thoughts simple. _'Demyx, that guy who was holding me, must have brought me hear. Why? I'm in a jungle. There isn't a jungle anywhere near home.' _"Where am I?"

A toucan squawked from somewhere in the trees.

"Rationalize", she told herself. "Rationally thinking, I still don't get why I'm in a jungle!" What she needed was a plan of action. Olette went through the list in her head; survival required food, water, and shelter. Water wasn't far off (_'It's only over a cliff.'_), being in girl scouts taught her which berries to eat (_'But only the type growing in forests, not jungles .'_), and she was stumped on the last item.

Her knees shook as she raised herself to stand. Honestly, she didn't want to stand. She didn't feel like, want, or care to move. It just seemed so much easier to sit there and wait for someone to find her. Olette was a practical girl and knew better. If she did as she wanted then night would roll around, and she'd die. The brunette kept her mind firmly off of what manner she would be killed, because it involved teeth and claws. Or, she could freeze to death.

Shuffling to the edge, she cautiously leaned far enough to see estimate the height. It was hard to tell, but the ground looked to be twenty feet down. She didn't put too much faith in her estimate. Olette could use a ruler as well as the next person, but she experienced difficulties with measurements otherwise.

She turned to her left and took three slow, short steps to find a way to the ground. Not at all far away, the rock formed a crude stairway downward. The only thing between her and that easy solution was a sudden crevice reaching to the ground. It was hard to guess how far the jump would be. Olette decided it would be too far. That was her luck, after all. She wondered if anything or anyone in the world was on her side.

Other than that, there were two ways to go. There was no third way, because she was backed up against the cliff wall. One way included jumping and hoping she didn't estimate the height properly. The other way, to her relief, involved climbing down the thick trunk of a fallen tree. Greenery already grew all over the wood to make natural footholds for her.

Olette, feeling insecure approaching the small cliff's edge, crawled to the beginning of the trunk on hands and knees. Turning with her back to the edge, her left leg slowly extended until the toe of her shoe scraped the moss. Her left hand fumbled for a halfway decent hold on the wood, made difficult by the locks of hair falling in her eyes. The school girl quickly turned her head, flipping curls over her shoulder. Ready, she brought her other foot over to switch her weight completely onto the tree trunk.

The moss instantly sent her sliding down the wood and rolling across cold dirt and grass. Splinters dug into where they could and the world to her had no differentiation between up and down as she rolled every which way. The abrupt accident left her stunned until she rolled to a halt. Then, the teen noticed a severe pain in her ribs. Next came her headache, followed quickly by an overall soreness, and last, the splinters' sting.

She gave herself a minute to wallow in this pain and misery. Crying certainly did sound wonderful, but Olette wouldn't lower herself. Now she stood on her own feet.

Her shoes were on moss, and moss was slippery, so she fell. Completely understandable, she thought. Shifting her body beforehand, Olette experimentally raised herself into a sitting position. The results relieved her; nothing was broken.

Dusting herself off, a bubble of pride for how she handled herself rose in her chest. Sure, she could do this. No problem.

'_Didn't I say that before I was nearly killed in the underground concourse?'_

* * *

"So, where did you say you were from again?" Jane asked while pouring her guest another cup of tea. It was good to finally see the china used for something more than decoration. 

"A city south of here", Zexion replied, placing a single sugar cube in his tea.

The woman placed the teapot at the center of the table and sat down in her own chair. "Is it on the mainland?"

"Yes, the south." He took a small gulp, not caring about the steam.

As memory coming to mind, Jane set her teacup back on its plate. "Oh, you mean South Africa! I haven't been there since I was a little girl with Daddy. It was the same trip where I saw my first giraffe."

Not entirely listening, the Nobody politely nodded. He cared more about the tea than his hostess. Though honestly, it was good tea.

"Why have you come to the island?" Jane asked, taking a careful sip of her tea afterward. "Have you also come to study the gorillas?"

Zexion honestly wondered if she truly believed those were his plans. "An associate of mine arrived here several hours ago, and I need to find him before I leave."

"A friend of yours? Well, don't worry. Tarzan might have found him or maybe even the gorillas", she assured him.

Since he arrived, all signs pointed towards Jane being a tad gorilla-obsessed. Her doubtful mental health didn't seem threatening. Also, Zexion could feel heaviness in his limbs indicating fatigue. The realization did not come as a surprise. Still, he knew it would not hurt to stay longer. Even Nobodies needed rest. He slowly lifted his teacup from the saucer and drank in whatever remained.

Jane took notice and asked, "Are you sure you're all right? You look like you could use a rest."

He hated to rely on anyone's hospitality, which seemed too much like intruding. Zexion could not even guess how many hours passed since he fled from Castle Oblivion. He suffered insomnia during his rest nearly twelve hours before his encounter with Axel. The fall from the adrenaline rush produced by his battle with Riku and escape from the boy's replica reduced his energy to nearly nothing. The Nobody barely believed he managed to climb the steep streets of Twilight Town and navigate the jungle floor. Now, his muscles went numb with exhaustion and mind dulled by a mild headache.

"There's a cot in the tent if you would like to rest for a bit", she offered.

A bed sounded enticing. Before allowing himself the luxury, he did a scent-check of the island. A long, deep breath was all he needed to know there were leopards, elephants, monkeys, and Jane's favorite: gorillas. Three other scents stood out from the majority. Likely they were human, except Demyx. Zexion knew the scents of his colleagues well. From what he could tell, the younger Nobody approached the camp with one of the humans.

"I can't", he admitted. If his heart were with him at the time, he knew it surely would ache with longing for rest. Since he lived without one, the yearning was not an issue and could be forced into the back of his mind.

"But you really do look like you could use one", Jane said, truly concerned. She barely took a moment to wonder why he turned down her offer when two figures came around the stacks of crates. "Tarzan! Oh, and would this be your friend?"

Zexion, eyes closed and on the verge of falling asleep, gave a lazy nod.

Jane smiled at the new visitor and said, "Then you're welcome to join us for tea."

"Thanks!" Demyx barely took a moment to take a seat. He accepted the cup of tea she offered and immediately downed it. "Uh, could I have something cold instead? Climbing vines is great and all, but I'm drained."

"Your friend was just saying how tired he was. Perhaps both of you should stay for a while. Once you get out there, in the jungle, you certainly do have to stay alert. Never know what's going to sneak up behind you", she said, stirring the sugar in her tea with a miniature spoon.

"Thank you for the tea, Jane", Zexion said, ignoring her comments.

"Oh, you're quite welcome." She took a sip of tea. "Is it just the two of you on your expedition?"

"Expedition for what?" Demyx asked.

"To study the gorillas."

"We're traveling", Zexion tiredly explained.

"Oh, so it's just the two of you?" she asked, interested.

Zexion opened his eyes and barely turned his head to watch Demyx. The nocturne sat with his mouth slightly open, on the verge of saying something but the words momentarily escaped his mind. He closed his mouth, glanced at Zexion, and took a breath as if to speak. Again, his mouth was open and nothing came out for several seconds before he finally found the answer.

"Uh—oh,well, I guess it's just us", Demyx announced, happy to finally give the answer and be out of the unwelcome spotlight.

The elder Nobody accepted the answer, as did Jane. Each person took a moment to enjoy a short silence and their tea.

Tarzan, meanwhile, sat on the crates. As much as the Porters insisted he give tea a chance, the ape-man never took to the beverage. During this tea time, he surveyed the area. He learned from Kerchack's example to always keep vigilant. Therefore, he was the first to notice their final visitor dragging her feet as she moved towards the camp.

Olette looked fairly decent for someone who fell from a mini-cliff and rolled on the ground, collecting dirt as she did so. Her curls, surprisingly, survived the abuse as did her clothes. Her garments remained free of rips and tears. A pale bruise developed on her upper right arm. Overall, her condition was nothing a little dusting off could cure. The only injured part of her was her spirit. Liveliness came back to her once she caught sight of her two kidnappers.

"YOU."

All three looked over at her. Demyx and Jane gave wide-eyed stares. Zexion became somewhat more awake then fully when he noticed her gaze focused on him. Obviously, there would be another person trying to kill him today.

Stalking up to the table with her fingers curved to make angry little fists, she thought of all the things she wanted to scream in his face. The Twilight Town girl wanted to scream about missing her trolley, about Seifer being a jerk, about Seifer probably dying, and about where in the world he took her. A horrible little part of her just wanted to slap him (embarrassingly enough, that was as violent as she got).

By the time she reached the table, Olette froze. Zexion suffered from fatigue, but he hid it away to give a glare. He hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours. He listened to an English woman give her life story. He nearly died by the hands of a replica commanded to kill him by a lower Organization member. No, he was not in the mood for whatever qualms the girl had with the situation. And no, she was not going to give him a lecture on it.

A disheartened Olette averted her eyes to the only woman of the group. Jane recovered from her original shock and offered the chair between herself and Demyx.

"Why don't you have a sit and join us for tea?" she said, already preparing the young girl a cup of tea. "My name is Jane, by the way."

She obediently, though gracelessly, plopped into the chair and kept her eyes trained on the tablecloth.

'_I shouldn't have been so forward'_, she criticized herself, giving a mental kick. _'The louder you scream, the less anyone will listen. So, I need to start over and more politely.'_

When Jane offered the teacup, Olette graciously accepted it with a smile and "thank you". She took several polite sips from it to put her in better cheer.

"I don't know if you still remember me, but I'm Olette", she began, looking at Zexion.

Noticing someone addressed him, he willed himself to sit up straighter and to suppress his exhaustion. He said nothing.

Wishing this wouldn't be a one-sided conversation, she continued. "The last time I was awake was in the underground concourse. But, where are we?" The question was directed at both Nobodies.

"We're in the Deep Jungle, dear", Jane replied instead.

"Then where is Twilight Town?" Olette demanded to know, desperate.

"Twilight Town? I don't believe that's anywhere in Africa." Jane thought it over. "Surely isn't in England either. Is it in Europe?"

She blinked. "Where?"

"Or America?"

The distressed brunette slowly said, "I've never heard of any of those places in geography class."

Demyx pretended to find his tea to be fascinating, and Zexion leaned back in his chair. They could tell where this conversation was leading. The eldest stood up to leave. The other followed suit as they began making a quick exit.

"Then where am I-hey, where are they going?"

Before disappearing behind the crates, Demyx stopped, scratched the back of his head, and replied, "We'll be back later, okay?"

Olette dumbly stared after them as they left. "Okay." _'I wonder where else there is to go in a jungle. I still need them to tell me what happened. I hope they don't go far.'_ Then it hit her; they weren't coming back, idiot. "Wait!"

She carefully set down her teacup and made sure not to kick the chair on its side when she stood up to give chase. Another chase scene sounded abhorrent, but they were probably her only way home. Besides, something did not add up if an A+ student didn't know any of the continents Jane mentioned. Nothing added up at all.

Rounding the crates, her waist collided with a table holding Bunsen burners, test tubes, and vials of unknown liquids. She saw the other two disappear into a dark tunnel of brush leading from the camp. A familiar _swoosh_ of dark portals signaled the appearance of Heartless. Two faceless creatures with wands and four blue monkeys with wide yellow eyes appeared on the scene. They didn't look as unfriendly as the silver creatures who attacked Seifer, but they still didn't look any more benevolent.

"RAAAGH", Tarzan roared, leaping from the crates and thrusting his spear at the Wizard nearest Olette. It died and dispersed into wisps of darkness before the wild man drew the rest into a fight, swinging his spear and attacking more like a beast than the real beasts.

"Over here!" Olette looked over her shoulder to see Jane by the canvas tent, waving her hand. "It's safe inside!"

She didn't need to hear it twice; her feet carried her into the tent before any thought of the two strangers entered her mind. The closing of the canvas entrance gave her a long moment to catch her breath.

"That certainly was scary. Don't worry, though, dear", Jane assured her. "Ever since Sora stopped by a little while ago, we only see those types of monkeys once every week."

Forcing herself to calm down, she replied, "Too bad they showed up now."

"They seem to really be attracted to wherever humans are, so they might have sensed a larger group here than usual and decided to stop in." She took their intruders entrance all too well.

Olette numbly nodded and seated herself on the cot. She needed time to think over her situation. She needed time to figure out what to do. She needed time to realize those two guys (whose names she really did need to learn) were getting away.

Stumbling to stand up, Olette clumsily made her way to the flap and looked up at Jane. "Is it safe?" she asked, afraid.

The woman pulled back the flap and peered outside. "I believe it's clear."

Relieved, the school girl threw the flaps all the way open. She avoided colliding into the lab table and dashed for the tunnel, shouting over her shoulder, "Thanks for the tea!"

"Careful out there, and good luck!" Jane called back from the tent entrance, waving goodbye.

And then, the cold and dark of the jungle covered Olette as she entered and ran further, deeper, along the path. The temperature dropped dramatically from what it was in the sun. The light from the camp stayed at her back but forward she could see nothing. She could hear the dry dirt crunching under her feet while slowing to a quick and cautious gait. The canopy could be heard rustling from a strong wind, giving her a chill up her spine.

It was the first time the fact dawned on her that she wandered around in a jungle. A real jungle filled with lions and tigers and bears. Oh my.

* * *

Her abductors rested in the small lagoon nearby. Apparently, a family of purple hippos also found it a great place to rest day in and day out. Zexion and Demyx sat at the base of a tree with thick vines acting as a ladder to the treetops. Neither spoke. The musician hummed a song and drummed his fingers on tree roots sticking out of the ground. The other had almost nodded off. 

"Hey, Zexion, where are we going next?"

He cleared his voice. "We are not going anywhere together."

"But I can't go back to the Organization and tell them—heck, I don't know what to tell them!"

"Feel free to use your imagination."

"But what's wrong with me traveling with you?" he continued trying to convince the other, not wanting to return. If he failed this mission, well, Demyx tried to avoid thinking about it. "I'll go wherever you want to go. No questions except one; where do you want to go?"

That was the question. Zexion knew of many worlds yet none sounded appealing at the time. His time away from the Organization would not be a vacation. This new freedom required a purpose to accompany it. He still wanted to find his heart, but the scientist could not fathom where to find it. An actually possible plan would be what, he wondered. A Nobody's only purpose was to find his heart and return to his original form as a human, to be Ienzo again. Otherwise, there wasn't anything else. These thoughts led him to a dead end, it seemed. Anything else he tried to do would be a waste.

He remained quietly in denial of that last thought. Zexion needed more time to formulate his plan.

"Zexion?"

"Give me time to think."

"Oh, okay." Demyx easily took the reply as answer enough. He noticed the original six Nobodies did plenty of thinking, even before picking whether they wanted their egss scrambled or sunny-side up for breakfast. This conundrum would take several days, maybe weeks. "Do you hear something?"

Olette came sprinting out of the tunnel screaming and shaking her head wildly. "Get it off! This is too much! Just get it off!"

He let a pregnant pause pass before replying, "You mean that?"

Demyx ran up to help her yet kept his distance from her. From their point of view, this girl had gone wild.

"Get what out of your hair?" he finally asked. "You look fine to me."

She paused in her panic and ran her fingers through her hair. The imagined beast was just that-imagined. Paranoia and a suddenly overactive imagination got the better of her. Olette lowered her arms to her sides and smiled apologetically at the guy who tried helping her.

"I guess I got a little scared. Thank you for helping me." She didn't believe her situation could have become more humiliating.

"It's okay. The worst you did was wake up Zexion." He jabbed his thumb in the direction of the tree his friend leaned against.

Olette looked in the indicated direction. With his coat, Zexion blended well with shadows. The pale skin of his neck and face were all that stood out other than his hair. She also noticed he was staring at her as if she were a loon. Why could she never make a good impression on anyone other than her teachers, she wondered.

"So you're Zexion?" she confirmed. The mysterious man's name was known at last.

"Yeah", said Demyx. "And I'm Demyx. Olette, right?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

Number IX entertained a notion for a second before proposing it. "How about she come with us?"

"I'm on the verge of leaving both of you here", the elder replied.

"Then don't take me", she said. "Just let me go home."

Zexion stood up and walked until he stood near the two. Arms crossed, he considered it. "Your home world is too close to our world, and we were there too recently." His arms uncrossed and rested at his sides. "Returning now would be bad."

The other man tilted his head curiously. "How bad?"

"Unfavorable."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"It is."

"Oh. I guess that means Olette will just have to stick with us for now." Demyx shrugged as if the problem had been settled.

"But I don't want to travel anywhere with you!" she strongly objected. "I just want to go home to Twilight Town." Her last sentence came off weak and desperate.

"If you want to leave so badly-" A corridor of darkness was summoned "-then go."

Olette stared into the great swirling mass between Demyx and Zexion. The latter watched her impassively and the former looked ready to bite his nails in anticipation to see if she would venture inside.

"W-where would that take me?" she asked.

"Maybe to your home", Number VI replied. He took some pleasure in her fear of the darkness.

The longer she stared into the bleak nothing, the more Olette felt sucked in. Other than the random purple wisps, the void contained purely darkness. The closer she edged the less heat remained until she saw her own breath. From there, she didn't dare go a step closer. She gave up. Demyx got his wish.

"Well, it is the beginning of summer", she breathlessly said. "I have some free time."

Olette yelped when she felt a hand on her back give a rough push towards the abyss. Another pair of hands grabbed her arm to pull her away.

"Hey, she said she'd come", Demyx told him.

"I never agreed", Zexion replied. "Why are you so insistent?"

"I think it would be fun to have a pet human."

"But I'm a human. I can't be someone's pet!" She realized humans have been used as pets but of a different sort. Her eyes widened.

Zexion caught on to the misunderstanding. "If you wanted a pet, then get a dog."

He gave his argument a minute's worth of thought. "Would you prefer to travel with a dog or-" He gestured to Olette-"her?

The schemer hated today. "If she is ever a liability, then she's dead."

Her jaw dropped. "I thought I'd get to go home!"

Demyx gave her a pat on the shoulder and nervously whispered, "Don't push it. He's really grumpy today."

Hoping for better luck, Zexion started into the corridor.

"Wait, I thought you said that went back to my home", said Olette. She gave the portal another uneasy look. "How does that thing work?"

"Corridors of darkness are used to travel in between the worlds", he explained.

"Whole other worlds?" She heard them talk about other worlds before, but this was the first time she listened. Olette mentally chided herself for not paying enough attention. "That's impossible."

Zexion didn't waste time explaining the entire network. Instead, he stepped farther into the portal until it swallowed him whole.

"Okay, you next, Olette!" Demyx gave her a push into the portal. "And don't worry about Zexion. Just do everything we say and you'll be okay!"Before she could object, the girl was gone and the last of the group entered. Behind him, the portal closed.

She was shanghaied.

* * *

Okay, I am ending it right THERE. No more! We stop here! 

Oh, and you know she wasn't technically shanghaied. Zexion and Demyx won't sell her off as a sailor to do hard labor. The whole point of using that term was just to point out that she'll be "working" for them. Hey, it's no vacation.

I don't know what to think of this chapter anymore. I'll leave that up to you, my readers. As you've probably noticed, this chapter and the first were the set-up chapters. Again, I've tried not to make this chapter too boring. This was hard putting together. Hope I didn't disappoint.

Ciao For Now Everyone!


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